This is one of those films I remember my mother talking about all the time as a child. She LOVES old films like this. Years had passed and I never actually watched it, then one day I finally gave it a shot. I was amazed at how much I loved it too. It was just so slick and charming. All this is due to the perfect casting of William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a retired detective and his rich wife. Together they are the epitome of a perfect power couple. Their relationship is solid, They are always loving and playful with each other, and maybe that is because both are always a little drunk. You just gotta love that.
The Adaptation
The Thin Man is an adaptation of the final Dashiell Hammett mystery novel of the same name which was only released in January of the same year. Talk about a quick turn-around! It was based on Hammett’s experiences as a Pinkerton detective in Butte, Montana. While the witty banter between Nick and Nora came from his on-again, off-again relationship with playwright Lillian Hellman. Kind of like Ian Fleming’s real-life inspiration for James Bond. MGM quickly bought the screen rights from Hammett for a mere $21,000 ($488,000 today) and immediately put the film into production. Which was a surprisingly smart move on their part. The Thin Man was released not too long before the Hays Code was officially and rigidly enforced by the MPAA, setting tight restrictions on movie content. Because of this, the movie gets away with a great deal of its dry wit and humor. It even allows the film to be more lighthearted about Nick and Nora’s constant, dare I say competitive, martini drinking. I think that all of this helped the film be nominated for Best Picture, and it was so popular that even though only one novel was written, five more sequels came to follow over the next thirteen years. The subsequent films may not all be as solid as the first, but they do expand the characters well over the years. They are definitely still worth a watch as well. I mean for a film made in the 30s it is still a fun movie that mixes comedy, mystery, and suspense that a lot of today’s films are sorely missing.
Powell & Loy
William Powell and Myrna Loy may be one of the all-time greatest on-screen pairs ever. The two of them have some of the most amazing chemistry together. So much so that people thought they were married in real life. But as that wasn’t the case they just made 13 movies together always playing a couple.
Powell, a well-established leading man, known for his other detective role as Philo Vance, in a series of other films may have almost had another co-star. Louis B. Mayer already had her cast in another film and only agreed to Loy being in the film if director W.S. Van Dyke could get the film shot in three weeks time. Van Dyke was known for only shooting one take so that the actors didn’t lose steam as their characters. Thus, he was able to get the film done in just 16 days with an additional 2 days for minor retakes. Van Dyke had worked with both of them on another film, Manhattan Melodrama, that came out only 3 weeks before this film. The guy was a directing machine. Plus, I didn’t actually know that he directed all but the last film in The Thin Man series as well.
Asta
Ahhh Asta… the lovable little pooch. Asta AKA Skippy, was the little scene-stealing, Wire Fox Terrier who appeared in dozens of movies during the 1930s, like Bringing Up Baby. Best known for being the lovable pet dog in this movie and two of its five sequels. The later films starred other Wire Fox Terriers that were handled by the same people as Skippy. Skippy was such a well-trained dog that the actors were not allowed to interact with him between takes; his owners/trainers felt it would break his concentration. What a diva!
What The Thin Man Means to Us
The Thin Man (and most of its sequels) are imminently watchable and endlessly entertaining simply because Nick and Norah Charles are the greatest couple in cinematic history. The chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy is perfect and their relationship is the gold standard on how to accurately portray being in love. They understand each other completely to the point where they have an almost psychic rapport with one another. They don’t judge the other’s shortcomings or flaws but actively encourage whatever makes them happy, regardless of how society looks or feels about their behavior. They could’ve been the leads of any kind of movie in any genre and it still could’ve worked because watching them is more fun than paying attention to whatever plot they find themselves in, they just happened to be in a murder mystery. Why? Simply because it sounds like a good time. And it is. This isn’t a noir where the plot is a tangled mess that forces you to pay attention to every character and their motivation, it’s a breezy romp that reveals information in such an effortless manner, that when the famous Agatha Christie-like revelation scene happens where Nick has every character in a room and goes through each one explaining why and how they *could’ve* done it but then reveals why they didn’t until he finally gets to the actual culprit, you’ll be forgiven for forgetting you were even supposed to pay attention to the investigation in the first place. The Thin Man is an unimpeachable classic within the genre that better never get remade.
–Sailor Monsoon
I just introduced my wife to The Thin Man earlier this year, and we had a blast watching it. I’d seen it as a kid and loved the wisecracks, the flirting, and the whole idea of a married couple solving a murder. It’s astonishing to me that director W.S. Van Dyke had to fight to cast William Powell and Myrna Loy because their chemistry is immediately obvious. Yeah, the mystery is fun, but it’s Nick and Nora that makes the film (and its sequels) worth the price of admission. They’re the epitome of what my niece likes to call “couple goals,” giving each other support, love, too much alcohol, and a not-so-gentle ribbing when called for. Nick and Nora are the template for every smart-assed, capable, and totally in love couple on film (and the small screen) since. While the other films aren’t quite as sharp, they’re still well worth a watch. I mean, Nick and Nora (and Asta) are in them!
–Bob Cram
Legacy
The Thin Man was nominated for four awards at the 7th Academy Awards including Best Picture, but unfortunately didn’t win any. It is also ranked number 32 on the American Film Institute’s 2000 list of AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs as well as being nominated for many other AFI lists.
I love the fact that to this day other than a radio dramatization there hasn’t been a remake of it yet, which is surprising in this day and age of Hollywood retreading everything. I know at one point Johnny Depp was in talks for a remake. Honestly, that may have worked, but now I think they should just leave things as they are.
If you’ve ever seen the comedy spoof Murder by Death (highly recommended), you’ll know exactly where David Niven and Maggie Smith’s characters came from.
Have you seen The Thin Man? What did you think of the film? Got a fun fact or piece of trivia on the making of the film? Share it in the comments below!
